Tuna, Avocado and Watermelon Tartare

A colorful and ultra fresh tartare made of lightly wasabi spiced tuna, cilantro-lime avocado dices and watermelon for a fresh start this summer!

It’s hot, I don’t know for you but here in Spain it’s just terribly hot outside. No way I’m going to cook anything on the stove for a while… I need freshness, I need light, I need easy-breezy, so no better recipe for hot summer nights than a nice tuna tartare, right?

Better safe than sorry

Tartares, whether it’s beef, salmon, tuna, are so easy to make and frankly super delicious but it’s a raw meat and as with any raw meat you need to take a few precautions in order to not get an unpleasant surprise at night…

Here are my golden rules:

Ask your favorite Fishmonger if he does have a piece to eat raw, they usually cost a tad more but don’t play with this factor, don’t pick up any random piece, it might cost you otherwise…

Come prepared at the FishMonger with a bag that keeps the temperature stable, plus an ice pack if it’s a long way back home

Buy the fish last minute so it doesn’t warm up while you shop around, buy fish than straight home

First thing home, obvious one, throw the fish in the fridge

Before manipulating the fish, CLEAN YOUR HANDS, this is the most important rule

Be sure to have clean cutting mat and knife

The lime marinade will help disinfect the surface of the fish if there are any pathogens left so give it a good 30 minutes in the fridge to let the marinade make its magic.

Take out the fish from the fridge when ready to serve, don’t let it on the counter too long before serving

With the help of those few rules you should be have a great summer without stomach worries.

A tuna story

I usually don’t do personal stories here, but just because this one is close to my heart… My astrological sign is Pisces, I spend my childhood in the pool doing synchronised swimming, then I’ve moved closer to my element by taking diving classes. Today I do love to go diving when the wallet permits it. The last time I went diving was up north of Barcelona, at the far end of the national park Cap Creus, where I’ve add the most magical encounter of my diving career; a magestic tuna looking right at me. He was about 1.5 metres long floating with agility there higher than us in the deep blue sea, looking at me through those big round eyes. He was probably judging us, humans, doing our bubbles and moving quite uneasy underwater… thinking we must not be from around here… I couldn’t believe my eyes, a freakin tuna was looking right at me! I’ve never heard of anyone seeing one while diving, since it’s usually a deep sea fish. That magical moment lasted a second before, I’ve tried to show the fish to my buddy and “poof” he was long gone. You know when you witness such an fantastic thing and you are just so high for hours after that… Since then I’m always thinking of this amazing encounter when I eat tuna… such a beautiful elegant fish under and over water.

So let’s do this tartare!

Tuna, Avocado and Watermelon Tartare

Makes 2 portions | Preparation: 45 minutes | Difficulty: easy

Ingredients

Tuna

250g fresh tuna cut into small 1 cm cubes

1/2 lime

1/4 tbsp wasabi (1cm long from the tube)

1 tbsp of olive oil

salt and pepper

Avocado

1 avocado cut into small 1 cm cubes

few leaves of Cilantro finely chopped

1/2 lime juice

salt and pepper

Watermelon

250g watermelon cut into small 1 cm cubes

salt

Directions

Start by mixing all the ingredient of the tuna tartare and let marinate in the fridge for 30 to 40 minutes

during that time cut the watermelon and add a sprinkle of salt on it to let the water come out, leave in a sieve

10 minutes before serving make the avocado mix

In the centre of a plate, add a cookie cutter about 10 cm diameter fill with a layer of watermelon, topped with the avocado mix and finally the tuna

27 thoughts on “Tuna, Avocado and Watermelon Tartare”

What a spectacular dish to serve! Love the flavour combinations you have chosen. I know what you mean about being high for hours after one of those magical moments. I felt the same way the first time I saw a cougar. Our eyes met for what seemed like a very long time, and then he was gone, into the forest. I’ll never forget it!

I love your buying and handling tips for raw meat! It’s so true, you cannot cheap out and you can’t take it lightly — respect the meat!
This recipe is stunning — I want to dive right into it. Omg. Nothing beats a delicious and citrusy tuna tartar. And wasabi!! ❤ They never give you enough of this good stuff at restaurants. I swear, I could eat piles of it. Haha. I guess the only answer is to make some myself 😉

Loving the tuna / watermelon combo! I used to have to make tartare and ceviche of all sorts at work, but I have never made it at home for some reason. I’ll need to give this a shot at home, it’s perfect for a light lunch or afternoon snack after all!

Yum! I love everything about this dish — the vibrancy of the flavours, the simplicity of the recipe and the elegant presentation. Your tips about buying sashimi grade fish are great! I’m going to keep them on hand this summer. Thanks for another gorgeous recipe!

Wonderful combination of ingredients! I can almost taste it already 😀 I’ve got some leftover compressed-and-grilled watermelon in the fridge from yesterday’s BBQ, I think I’m going to shadow-hop (the only way to move around town without being burned into a crisp right now…) to my usual fishmonger and see if he’s got a nice piece of tuna for me~ I really hate living so far from the sea at times like these…

This sounds delicious! The weather is also starting to warm up where I live (Eastern Washington), so this would be perfect for one of those lazy evenings when you don’t want to turn the stove or the oven on. I don’t have access to fresh tuna though. Do you think this would be good with fresh halibut or salmon?

What a fantastic recipe, I must confess to being a huge fan of tartares, ceviches and sashimis, and am just loving the colours in this! And I can totally dig the tuna story; on one of my very first dives in the Philippines some 20+ years ago, I came face to face with a hammerhead that was just cooly studying us!